Personal growth is an important part of a person's growth, maturity and happiness

For successful people, continuous personal growth and development is critical. They are at the peak of their careers but still find time in their busy schedules to endlessly push themselves out of their comfort zone and discover more of their inner potential.

Personal growth is the process by which a person gets to know himself and continually develop himself to realize his full potential. Personal growth is an important part of a person's growth, maturity, success and happiness.

So what does personal growth mean to us? It is a lifelong process of spiritual, physical and social growth. It is a process of actively learning and developing new skills long after completion of formal education.

The beauty of personal growth is that the possibilities are endless—you can learn as much as you want in your field. And as you continue to grow, you will embark on an unusual and meaningful path in life.

What is personal growth?

Personal growth is the continuous process of understanding and developing yourself in order to reach your potential. Personal development is a vital part of a person's growth, maturity, success and happiness. To the question: what is personal growth? The answer is obvious: it is the basis of emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual health.

Personal growth has a profound impact on every aspect of our lives. As we grow on a personal level, we become more passionate about life in general. We are naturally more motivated because learning and growth add motivation and excitement.

Personal growth and self-development give us both the incentive and the means to become the best version of ourselves. As paradoxical as it may be, personal growth seems to expand our belief system to include the people around us, rather than becoming more selfish. As our world expands, so does our understanding of the possibilities around us. This mindset of possibility fills us with a mood of eager anticipation as we begin each new day.

Psychology of personal growth

The first level of personal growth involves growth in our outer behavior. The second level of personal growth requires a psychological change in our attitudes and values. Psychological growth means a qualitative change in a person's character, which can be brought about by conscious intention and effort. This psychological change also increases our capacity for social achievement, but does so by expanding the personality, not just through greater external effort. Psychological personal growth can also be described as qualitative improvement in those qualities that make a person a better and more enlightened person who expresses higher values and is able to make a greater contribution to the overall well-being of society.

Psychological growth of the individual is achieved through:

Increased level of self-awareness and understanding of other people;
Raising the level of personal ideals and aspirations;
Acquiring a more positive attitude towards yourself, other people and life;
Acquiring higher psychological values that support and enrich human relationships;
Development of your individuality.

Many people mistake psychological growth for greater freedom to do what we want, greater ability to assert ourselves and live for ourselves. But these things are actually an expression of the desire to make oneself happy through more self-indulgence. They don't bring lasting happiness or make us better people. Psychological growth requires effort to gain greater self-knowledge and self-control, to master our natural impulses and direct our energy towards something better and higher. If you make a list of the people you most admired and respected, you can easily identify characteristics associated with psychological growth—living for an ideal, courage of conviction, willingness to take risks, integrity, kindness, generosity, service to others, etc.

How do we know when we are growing psychologically? We grow psychologically when:

We are more self-reliant: we rely on ourselves more than we expect other people to do things for us.
We are more responsible: we feel more personally responsible for the people around us or for the work in which we are involved, rather than depending on others and blaming them for what goes wrong.
We strive for higher achievements: we are no longer satisfied with feeling safe or comfortable, or receiving recognition and recognition from others. We want to live for something more than just survival or social recognition. We want to contribute.
We have higher standards : We don't like being as good or successful as other people, or receiving their approval. We strive for something more than just recognition or public approval.
We are more positive: we react less to other people, no longer consider ourselves superior to others, and no longer envy those who achieve more than us. We do not try to dominate others or impose our will on them. We are more generous, kind and willing to give ourselves to other people rather than demanding anything from them.
We live by higher values: we respect others more, our thoughts are more objective, our words are more truthful, our actions are more honest, and our relationships are more harmonious.
We act in accordance with our understanding, not our impulses: we do what we think is right, not what we feel or find convenient. We are no longer carried away by our passions, impulses or preferences. We reflect more on our own behavior to better understand ourselves. We reflect more on the behavior of others to see their point of view and become more tolerant.

Read more: How to set yourself up for positive thinking

Main goals of self-development: personal and professional growth

The path of self-development itself is very thorny. It requires full dedication and work beyond your strength, to the limit of your capabilities. Not everyone chooses this kind of path. To overcome it, you must have a certain life goal, be prepared for difficulties and possible failures. The complete desire to create a life without the influence of typicality, which is often imposed by the environment, including neighbors, is also part of a person’s self-development.

Personal and professional growth helps us further achieve three main goals, on the basis of which we can continue self-improvement in the future:

Harmony in accordance with the current day - studying new information obtained from various sources (books, attending trainings, various seminars), its systematization and further use, taking into account all the requirements necessary for society, including our immediate environment, as well as achieving new heights in building a career.
The formation of awareness is not only real, but also adequate acceptance of the present, a thorough analysis of one’s own behavior model - all these actions are necessary to obtain the necessary list of possible problems and shortcomings that need to be corrected or completely eradicated so that they do not interfere with professional growth in the future.
Comprehensive development - improvement requires not only achieving the best results only in a certain category and nearby ones, but also in absolutely opposite ones. Thus, you develop comprehensively, which means you can, based on the acquired knowledge and skills, develop in a completely new direction for you. You must not only be an ace in your field, you must also be able to support small talk on any topic.

Tips, techniques and strategies for self-development, methods of personal growth.

Henry Ford said, “To grow as a person, you must overcome obstacles. And obstacles are those terrible things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

Personal growth comes through self-knowledge.

Self-knowledge is the bridge between self-knowledge and self-development. Self-knowledge defines what you know about yourself. This is information that you accumulate in the process of self-discovery. It is through self-knowledge that you can understand your principles, your values, your purpose and apply them to your life. With self-knowledge, you can understand your strengths to build on, as well as grow as a person by identifying areas in which you would like to improve. Self-awareness can also help you avoid circumstances that make you feel stressed.

For personal growth, take responsibility for your life.

We often hear about the need to take 100% responsibility for our lives. What's so special about this? The point is that it transforms you from a victim to a winner in your life.

It points to cause rather than effect, which means you accept what you create in your life rather than simply reacting to it.

Taking responsibility allows you to choose how to respond to life's challenges. You take the wheel of your life's journey:

Take responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, words and actions.

Taking responsibility for your life means taking responsibility for your abilities to think, feel, speak and act, because this is the structure of all human experience. You create your life with your thoughts, feelings, words and actions.

Stop blaming.

When you stop blaming and accept responsibility, you transform from a victim to a winner. Now you can look at the situation and decide what to do about it.

Stop complaining.

Complaining is another form of blaming and playing the victim as if you have no choice. It also shows that you are focusing on the shortcomings, on what is going wrong, what is happening to you.

Nothing personal.

Stop taking any form of disagreement as a personal attack. Remember, you cannot control how other people react, you can only control how you react. Most likely, the problem is not with you, but with the problem at hand. Instead of making assumptions, ask questions. This is a very powerful and liberating practice with no surprises.

Make yourself happy.

It is not your partner, parent, friend or child's job to make you happy.

Being happy is your decision, and the path to happiness is gratitude and doing good deeds.

Live in the moment.

Remember! Life now is just one moment.

“The past is history, the future is a mystery, so there is only now, this moment. Take responsibility for this moment and do everything you can to atone for the past and create the future you want.”
Paulo Coelho

Use the power of intention.

Living intentionally, consciously making choices to move yourself forward toward realizing your vision or results, means consciously taking responsibility for your life.

Be calm and confident.

When you take responsibility for your life and experiences, you feel calm because you know that you are consciously in charge of yourself and can choose how to respond.

Look for the good in people.

There is a saying that we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior. One great way is to remove shortcuts. Make it a new habit to look for the intentions behind people's behavior.

Read more: Ideas, more ideas! Secrets of brainstorming

Make an action plan for self-development

A personal development plan will help you structure your thinking. We are constantly planning and thinking in our heads, but very often we miss important details and do not create a realistic strategy to implement this plan. Therefore, many plans remain in our dreams.

When you develop or design something new, it usually doesn't end overnight. That's why you must be prepared for the fact that every important plan will take time to implement. If you want to achieve something important, you need time to make a detailed plan.

There are a few important things to consider when creating a personal development plan:

Define your goals;
Prioritize;
Set a deadline;
Understand your strengths;
Recognize opportunities and threats;
Develop new skills;
Take action;
Receive support;
Measure progress.

Here, for example, is a completely viable graduate plan:

Life plans	Required Resources	Sources	Goal achievement indicators
Passing the Unified State Exam (successfully)	Own powers	Healthy lifestyle and modes	Diploma of complete secondary education
Admission to the University	Own powers. Tutors.	Parents’ funds and their own earnings	Enrollment in a university (budgetary department)
Receiving additional education in the chosen specialty	Own powers	Actually earned money	Certificate of additional education

Leaving your comfort zone as a strategy for personal growth

The willingness to explore new ideas or ways of thinking requires not only a lot of courage, but also a degree of acceptance. Fear of failure can be paralyzing. But you can't fail if you don't try. Realizing that you've made a mistake is a powerful opportunity to grow and prevent yourself from making the same mistake twice. Remember that when you are looking for an answer to a question or a solution to a problem, there are often more than one “correct” results. The question is to find the best.

Discomfort is a catalyst for growth. It makes you crave something more. It forces you to change and adapt.

No matter how big or small the change is, the only thing that matters is that you have to take action and start somewhere!

What is a comfort zone?

A comfort zone is a situation where a person feels comfortable and safe. Staying in your comfort zone is an attractive option because it avoids risk and provides consistent results. On the contrary, opening yourself up to strangers is usually more difficult. However, it allows you to gain new experiences, improve your skills, and take advantage of opportunities for professional and personal growth.

How to get out of your comfort zone?

Removing personal barriers to change can seem daunting. It can be overwhelming and uncomfortable, both mentally and physically. However, when you take control of your life and open yourself up to the world around you, it creates an environment that is conducive to success and fulfillment. After all, isn't it better than living in a cardboard box?

For personal growth, put your habits in order

Giving up old habits is not easy. The first thing we need to recognize when we decide to make significant changes is our humanity. We are imperfect and most likely there will be troubles along the way. Instead of letting this stop us from trying or being unkind to ourselves, it is vital to allow yourself some grace as you strive for personal development.

To eliminate unproductive habits, use 10 simple steps to simplify the process:

Identify the specific behavior you want to change or develop.
Identify your triggers.
Understand your triggers.
Develop a replacement plan.
Use hints.
Get support.
Support and reward yourself.
Be persistent and patient.
Consider getting professional help.

Read more: Huxley - psychological sociotype

Essentially, we want to look at the problem behavior and clearly identify it, think about the replacement behavior, and implement a new, more constructive behavior pattern in place of the one we are trying to remove.

How to develop a person's personality

What is charisma in a man - the definition of the word, how to become like that

In fact, personal development comes down to strengthening existing and developing new positive qualities, and the formation of new skills. It is also important to decide on your goals in life and find the best ways to meet them.

Success is a journey, not an end result

At the same time, it is important not to become dependent on your goals. Such a person becomes neurotic, which is the exact opposite of a self-actualized personality.

Driving forces of personality development

The following driving forces of personality development can be identified:

Target. You need to set specific goals that can be achieved.
Strength of will. Without this quality, success cannot be achieved. Sooner or later, motivation disappears, so you need to learn to act when you don’t feel like it.
Reflection. This is the ability to look at yourself soberly from the outside. You need to learn to understand how much the goal can be achieved, what the main difficulties are, and how they can be corrected.

Where to start personal growth

It is recommended to start by using the advantages you already have. Often a person simply does not know about them, and therefore cannot use them. If you realize them, then this will already be a powerful step towards development.

Components of success in personal development

To achieve success in personal development, you must:

A clear desire to succeed.
Purposeful actions.
Communication with a motivating environment.
The ability to analyze situations from a positive point of view and see opportunities where others do not notice them.
Independence from the result. You need to move towards goals, develop positive qualities in yourself. But if you can’t do this, don’t reproach yourself. If a person places excessive demands on himself, he turns into a neurotic.

Personal growth: setting goals

Personal development goals are goals you set to improve your character, skills, and abilities. Setting these goals involves assessing yourself and identifying areas where you can improve to maximize your potential.

To begin personal development, you must create a plan with practical actions. These steps will help you measure your improvements and focus on your goal.

Use these steps to start creating and achieving personal development goals in your career:

Create a vision.
Develop a plan.
Track your progress.
Review your plan regularly.

Where to start your personal growth and self-development

To grow as a person, you need to look at a goal, develop the best strategy to achieve it, and focus on it. This is the first step in any action and you should spend as much time as you need on it.

A misconception about what is necessary for professional and personal growth.

One of the most famous wishes is: “Health, success in your career and happiness in your personal life!” Which clearly explains that to achieve life satisfaction, in addition to health, financial well-being and a state of harmony with oneself and one’s loved ones are some of the most necessary conditions.

The very definitions of the concepts “professional growth” and “personal growth” are deciphered as: the constant development of a person and the accumulation of various experiences and knowledge throughout his life.

The natural accumulation of life experience without additional personal self-development often leads to a situation where everything is already clear and understandable, but, alas, it is too late (see why personal growth training is needed).

It seems quite logical that in order to develop and accumulate more experience in less time, it is necessary to devote more time to studying information on issues of interest. That is, for active professional growth : at a minimum, constantly improve your qualifications, and, at a maximum, get additional education, keep abreast of all the changes and innovations in the professional field that interests you.

Accordingly, for personal growth : study psychological literature, learn the mechanisms and tactics of behavior in a given situation, etc. It is clear that education requires a certain amount of time, perseverance and hard work, but the notorious “highest degree of complexity” does not seem to be observed yet , Truth?

“What is the overwhelming difficulty?” you ask. And you probably already have a school, university or college behind you, and perhaps more than one advanced training course. So the experience of studying and accumulating information is most likely quite extensive. Yes, and certain everyday experience is also, of course, present, and perhaps you have been interested in all kinds of psychological literature for a long time.

Useful books on personal growth

The New Year is just around the corner, and now is the time to fill your shelves with inspiring books that will help you become the best version of yourself.

These books will give you effective strategies and helpful tips to help you grow and prosper. Discover mindfulness techniques, instructions for eliminating clutter in your life, tips for setting meaningful goals, and more!

Brian Tracy "Get Out of Your Comfort Zone";
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz's Life at Full Power;
Dmitry Chernyshev “How people think”;
Josh Kaufman "Your Own MBA";
Kelly McGonigal "Willpower" How to develop and strengthen”;
John Acuff "Get Started";
The Art of Explaining by Lee LeFever;
Richard Branson "To hell with everything! Take it and do it!

Your life now consists of a series of moments. Live intentionally in the present and you will begin to experience the joy and happiness you seek.
Remember the main thing - it’s never too late for personal growth, even if it’s the first time. Now is definitely a good time for this!

Natalia Shakhova